Hatch construction



Patented Feb. 24, 1942 HATCH CONSTRUCTION Walter L. Ghesterman, Berkeley, Calif., assignor to Albert E. .Jurs, Berkeley, Calif doing businesstas .Shand & Jurs Company Application December 3, 1938} Serial No; 243,800

2 Claims (01. 220-'-57) This invention relates generally to hatch con-- structions such as are applicable to tanks or like structures.

It is an object of the invention to provide a spherical shaped socket 2|, formed on lever l8, and a spherical shaped ball 22, formed on the closure disc Hi. It will be noted that the common center of the spherical surfaces in contact between the ball and socket, lies generally within the plane of the closure disc l6. There is an 55 opening 23 in the ball 22,. serving to loosely accommodate the retaining stud 24.. The closure disc is sealed against leakage through opening 23' by the. plug 20'; A sleeve 25 is shown surhatch construction which affords a positive seal 5 rounding the stud whereby thestud can be at. all times, without rapid deterioration of the t ghtened ag n t s S without clampe seating surfaces. A feature of the invention the spherical surfaces together. There is likecontributing to this result is the use of a novel Wise substantial clearance about sleeve 25, type of connection to the central portion of the whereby when the closure disc is in open position closure disc, whereby clamping pressure is uniit is free totilt in any d r c on ou a Su formly distributed over the seating surfaces stantial an e with sp to t e eve is.

A f rth r object of theinv ntion i to afiord To form 'a'pivotalconnection between lever l8 a device of the above characterhaving novel dd portion of the body Ill, the lever meansfor jacking the closure'disc open, in the has. a forked portion 26, connectedto the pivotal event it tends to hold fast to the stationary p Pih is inltum Carried y the Spaced at; tabs'28 formed upon the body ID. The forked Further objects of th i v nti ill appear portion26is also extended to form the foot lever from the following description in which the premanual operation.

ferred embodiment of the invention has been set To enable application of t e ja in or forth in detail in conjunction with the accoma pi forces to t e eve I I p de means penying drawing including a single member which can be rotated Referring to the drawing: in.one direction. to apply clamping force, and in Fig; 1 is a plan view illustrating a hatch con: on Opposite direction app jac n force. struction incorporating the present invention, Thus the other end ofvlovei is p d d With with a portion of the closure disc being broken' a fork and the slot 32 afforded by this fork is away, 7 adapted to accommodate the nut 33.; This nut Fig 2 is a Side eievatienai w i cros 'Se'c is provided with spaced upper and. lower collars tion of the hatch construction illustrated in 34 and 35, and also p v ded with the operat- F g 1 ing handle 36. There is a threaded engagement The device as illustrated in the drawing conbetween nut 33 and a od 38. The lower end si ts of a, body In, provided t t central of this rod is attached to the pivot pin 39 which hatch opening H. A bottom flange l2 faciliin turn is carried by the spaced tabs l4 formed tates attachment of the body to the upper wall on the dy e nut 36 is turned in a la of a t k, Th upper part of t body carries clockwise direction, collar 34 forces lever l8 an annular seat ring I 4, which can be formed 35 downwardly to tightly a p the Closure disc lb of suitable metal and which has a pressed fit upon the y- Y ng nut 33 in a counteror is otherwise attached and sealed with respect Clockwise direction, 3 34 can be d a d to the body l0. with respect to the lever, and the nut and the Extending over the body there is a closure rod 38 swung o a u positiondisc l6, which carries an insert ring H for 00- 40 Should one desire to l k t e lever s upw y, operating with the seat ring [4, Th i t the nut 33 is permitted to remain within slot ring I! can be formed of suitable material such While the operator Continues Co nter-clockas a synthetic rubber, capable of some resilient wise rotation to bring collar 35 into jacking endeformation to facilitate good sealing engagegagement with the lower side of the lever. ment with the upper surface of seat ring I4. Operation of the device described above can Extending across the closure disc l6 there is a be reviewed as follows: Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawlever l8, which is attached to the central poring illustrate the closure disc [6 when closed tion of the closure disc I6 by means of a ball upon the body, with a seal being established beand socket joint I 9. This joint makes use of a tween the seat ring l4 and the insert ring IT.

The outward pressure exerted by lever I8 is evenly applied to the center of the closure disc l6, by virtue of the ball and socket joint I9. Therefore there is a uniform distribution of pressure throughout the circumference of the seating surfaces. To move the disc l6 to open position,

immediately assumes a position in which the insert ring I! rests fiat upon the seat ring 14. Nut 33 is then engaged with the lever I8 and tightened to clamp the closure disc upon the body. Such clamping pressure, as previously pointed out, is evenly applied throughout the circumference of the seating surfaces, thereby insuring a positive seal and avoiding injury to the seating surfaces, such as invariably results from unequal distribution of pressure. As previously explained should one desire to jack the closure disc from its seat, this can be done by turning nut 33 in a counter-clockwise direction, whereby collar 35 engages the lower side of lever l8 to'force this lever upwardly.

In the foregoing description reference has been made to the fact that the common center of the spherical surfaces provided by the socket 2! and ball 22, is located within the general plane of the closure disc. This means that the closure disc may adjust itself relative to the lever I8 to insure proper alignment with respect to the seat ring M, with a minimum'amount of lateral movement occurring between the closure disc and the body. Such lateral movement is to be avoided because it generally involves a lateral stressing of the seating surfaces, when clamping pressure is applied.

My device has been foundparticularly valuable as a hatch construction for use with tanks or reservoirs containing volatile petroleum products. In such instances it is essential to secure a positive seal, and at the same time frequent opening of the hatch may be necessary for the purpose of taking samples, making temperature measurements, etc.

I claim:

1. In a hatch construction for application to the wall of a tank, an annular seat on said wall, a closure disc cooperating with said seat to close said opening, a lever extending across the outer side of the closure disc, means forming a pivotal mounting for said lever on said wall, a ball portion projecting outwardly from said disc, a. socket portion formed in said lever to provide a ball and socket joint between saidlever and said disc with its spherical surfaces formed on a center located substantially within the plane of said disc, means for loosely connecting said lever and said disc adjacent the central portion of said ball and socket joint, including a stud threaded in said socket portion and having its head disposed within said ball portion, the interior of said ball portion being sealed against communication with the interior of said tank, and means carried by said wall at a location diametrically opposite from said pivotal mounting for releasably applying both clamping and jacking forces to said lever.

2. In a hatch construction for application to the wall of a tank, an annular seat on said wall, a closure disc cooperating with said seat to close said opening, a lever extending across the outer side of the closure disc, means forming a pivotal mounting for said lever on said wall, a ball portion projecting outwardly from said disc, a socket portion formed in said lever to provide a ball and socket joint between said lever and said disc with its spherical surfaces formed on a, center located substantially within the plane of said disc, means for loosely connecting said lever and said disc adjacent the central portion of said ball and socket joint including a stud threaded in said socket portion and having its head disposed within said ball portion, the interior of said ball portion being sealed against communication with the interior of said tank, and means carried by said wall at a location diametrically opposite from said pivotal mounting for releasably applying both clamping and jacking forces to said lever; said clamping and jacking means including a threaded member, and a nut thread- ,ed upon said member, said nut being provided with two spaced collars for engagement with opposed surfaces of said lever.

WALTER L. CHESTERMAN. 

